What Sanity?
by MyDogAteMyPenname
Summary: AU, pretty much. Formally known as Beautiful Disaster “Did you know that Julius Cesar didn’t invent the Cesar Salad?” Cam said suddenly, still keeping her eyes on the computer. An unlikely friendship. Um, it involves Craig, if you wanted to know.
1. Chapter One

Title: What Sanity?

Author: My Dog Ate My Penname

Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Degrassi...

Author's Notes: My first attempt at posting a Degrassi Ficcie! I hope you enjoy! There's some possible romance, but I'm not too sure about where I want to go here. Please (OH PLEASE) give me constructive criticism, but MOST OF ALL please review! It makes a humble author's day! Enjoy!

**EDIT: Just reposting the first chapter, s'all. My entire story was written WAY before Spinner was expelled. It's all very dated, but I don't want to change the whole plot just because of that. I _am_ going in a new direction with the story, however!**

Craig Manning was pissed off at the world again.

His life was getting back on track a few days ago. He was falling hard for Ashley again. His inspiration for songwriting had returned. But then it all came crashing down again, as it usually did. It always does.

_Beep, beep, beep, beep..._

Craig violently slammed his fist onto the snooze button, nearly breaking his alarm clock again. He nearly growled as he slid out of bed, almost tripping over his sneakers. He stopped to glower at his whole room, out the window, at the posters that lined his wall. Today was not going to be a good day.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Camilla Taylor was singing brightly into her removable shower head.

Camilla Taylor was, to put it mildly, an outcast... on Degrassi standards anyway. Briefly, she would wonder why she didn't have more friends, but in the end, she honestly couldn't care less. Individuality was what she loved. People called her weird. Her, with her useless knowledge in the middle of class, her love of music before 1970, her wild black curls always in a ponytail, her Grecian sandals, her with the paint-splattered overalls.

She shot a lopsided smile at her reflection in the fogged up mirror, running a comb through her hair, clutching onto her towel.

Today felt nicer than usual.

Study hall thankfully came around sooner than Craig thought. He quickly entered the media room and snagged a computer for himself, plunking his backpack into the chair next to him, pulling his USB stick from the front pocket. In one swift motion, he uncapped it and jammed the stick into the USB port, opening his thesis paper for history class.

"Um, hi, can I have this seat?" a light voice said next to him. "Every other station is taken."

"Yeah," he grumbled, reluctantly taking his bag off the chair.

"Hey, thanks," she said, gracefully sitting down. "I'm Cam Taylor. I don't believe our paths have crossed."

_Then she's probably never heard of me..._ Craig thought to himself as he tore his eyes off the computer screen to look at her. The girl was of an average height, wearing a long, hippie skirt and a striped shirt. His friends had mentioned her a few times. They said she was, well, weird. When he finally stopped looking at her clothes, he finally met her eyes, looking expectant. Craig realized that she was waiting for his name. "Oh, hey. Craig Manning."


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

**Shout Outs! **

**Emily (a.k.a.: I'm Gary Coleman): giggles Thanks man. You rock! I'm gonna edit your Survivor/Crossover/Whatever fic soon!**

**Nosilla: Thanks! Your review is very much appreciated. Here's your update!**

**Yo: Um... Thanks for that complement in the beginning. sigh I was expecting at least one angry reviewer... I know, I know. It kinda screams "MARY SUE" in the beginning, but please try to give this a chance. I didn't even introduce the plot yet, so don't judge me as quickly. I get annoyed with Sues as much as the next person. Even if this turns into a romance, I hope that I can do something that makes it stand out from the rest. Don't give up on Cam and me now! She's not your usual original character, and if she turns into a Sue, she'll be a really cool one. :-P But, hopefully we won't get to that point.**

"Nice to meet you," Cam said with a nod and a smile, revealing her teeth, constrained by a thin silver retainer. She proceeded to continue her computer work, humming softly.

Craig still stared at her as she kept typing, clicking and humming. "Um."

"Yes?" Camilla asked, tilting her head slightly, brushing her extra-long bangs from her eyes. He quickly looked away.

"Never mind, I thought you were going to say something else," he grumbled, mentally cursing himself for being idiotic.

"Oh," she laughed softly, "Sorry. I tend to do that a lot." Cam started humming again, a little louder this time around.

After five minutes of this, Craig started to get irritated again. "Could you stop that? I can't concentrate on this, and it's due tomorrow," he said heatedly, slamming the book he held onto the floor.

"Sorry," she replied timidly as she averted her gaze, blushing. "I'm... I was... D-do you want me to move?"

Craig's eyes widened when he realized what he had done. He cursed himself again, trying to manage a smile. "No, no. I'm so sorry. I... I sometimes-"

"It's not a problem," Cam replied, patting his arm. "I understand."

When she did that, he felt a thousand volts of electricity jolt through his body, starting at the spot where her hand was. He flinched slightly. "Uh, yeah," was all he could manage as he pulled his brain back together. What was with this girl? He had spoken with her for less then fifteen minutes... And that feeling... it didn't mean anything did it? She was just a bizarre tenth grade girl. He shook his head, making another vain attempt at typing the last four paragraphs of his thesis paper, pushing those thoughts away.

"Did you know that Julius Cesar didn't invent the Cesar Salad?" Cam said suddenly, still keeping her eyes on the computer. "It was invented by Cesar Cantini, a New Mexico chef in 1924."

"Wh-what? What are you talking about?" he stammered, gaping slightly at the side of her face.

"The Cesar Salad was invented by Cesar Cantini in 1924, not by Julius Cesar," she replied, refraining from typing to glance at him for a moment. Camilla smiled her usual dreamy again. "Interesting, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." Craig rolled his eyes. She _was_ weird.

"Craig, my man!" Spinner said loudly, announcing his entrance just as the last bell of the day sounded. "You're meeting us at the Dot right?" He pushed back the dyed locks away from his grinning face, eyes going from Craig to Cam. His grin broadened. "Why don't you bring Camilla with you?"

"Uh, well, I don't- I mean... you must have something to do, right?" he asked his companion.

She replied simply, "No."

"Yeah, I. Just let me save this, Spin."

"No problem!" he said, before strutting towards the door, stopping himself from snickering.

Craig grumbled to himself again as he stuffed his notes and his USB stick into his backpack. He wasn't sure if he would stand looking at Camilla's stupid faraway look any longer.

As the media room slowly emptied around them, Cam still remained, standing by the door, staring intently at a poster. "Look," she said softly as Craig got up from his chair. "You probably don't want me around. I'll just go home. See you." Camilla smiled slightly at him before leaving the room with a swish of her skirt.

"See... you," he said, mostly to himself, for she was already yards away. He shrugged it off and headed out, feeling strange, relieved, yet still uncomfortable all at once.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

A/N: I am actually fully satisfied with this chapter! Yay!

**Shout Outs:**

**Kiera (Contagious Laugh): Aw! Thanks! Woot woot!**

**Gary Coleman: I'M GIVING YOU MY PROPS, TOO, DAWG. Wow, this has to be out longest running inside joke... EVERRRRR. Sit and be fit, FOREVER. (""ever" echoes behind her")**

**Helayne: I love your terminology! LOL. Thanks for the review! Muaha I got to wear the laurel. Haha.**

**MarkysGurl (Em): Wow. I was just... BLOWN away by your review. sniffles Thank you SO much. You rock.**

**Carrie: Aww! That means so much to me! (And Cam, hee-hee- she loves you too!) I completely understand people's issues with Sues. They suck, unless EXTREMELY well written. I hope that my character can break the Mary Sue mold. Or however that phrase goes. Hah. I hope you keep reading and reviewing my story!**

**Tag: Thankee so much for your review! It means so much to hear feedback! Psshaw, Mary-Sue!Cam (coughFiona) and Peyton are gonna rock da heezy fo' sheezy... Yeah kool okay bye.**

"Hey," Cam said into his ear, standing behind him as he struggled with his lock.

Craig almost jumped three feet into the air when he felt her breathing by his ear. He whipped around and backed into the lockers, caught off guard. When he calmed himself down, he noted that she was wearing a fluffy pink pair of cat ears, her untamed curls sticking out all over the place, as if they hadn't decided where they wanted to settle on her shoulders.

Camilla smiled her usual dreamy smile, her eyes heavy-lidded, lined by heavy metallic turquoise eye makeup to match her two-sizes-too-big sweater that hung loosely on her small frame, making her look smaller and more vulnerable than she was.

"Hey," Craig finally said in return, gently pushing past her, shaking his head.

"See you," she said just below a whisper, watching him go before heading to her next class.

"What _was_ that all about?" Spinner asked, meeting Craig at the corner, Marco not to far behind.

"What was what about?" he replied tiredly, shuffling his feet.

"You and Camilla Taylor," Spinner replied, causing Marco to roll his eyes.

"Spin, stop being a jerk," he said finally when Craig decided not to speak up, "Craig can talk to whoever he wants to. So back off, okay?"

"Fine, fine. I will, _Mom_." Spinner rolled his eyes, running a hand through his dyed locks.

Marco adjusted his backpack uncomfortably, eyes still on Craig, who was determined to stare down the floor tiles as they ever-so- slowly walked to their next class. "Craig... Are you... okay?"

"I'm fine!" he snapped suddenly, quickening his pace. "Just leave me alone!"

"Lets get down to business, fellows," Spinner said as they took their seats in the back of the classroom. "The Valentines Day Dance-who are you taking?"

"Well, you know who I'm taking," Marco chirped, grinning.

"Uh, yeah... So, what about you Craig?" he reached over Marco's desk to poke Craig's shoulder.

"I don't think I'm going," he whispered in return, just as their teacher reentered the room.

Spinner looked throughly appalled. Marco shifted uncomfortably as he leaned farther back into his chair. "What? Not going? Man, this is the dance of the season! Why not go? Pick up a few chicks; dance a few slow dances..."

"Spin..."

"Yeah, Marco?"

"Get off my desk."

She was there in the middle of the cafeteria holding a flower.

Craig immediately ducked his head behind a math textbook as her brown eyes found his. **What** was she singing? She was singing _Happy Birthda_y? He groaned. She was coming closer to his table now. She was... not going to sing to him? He looked up, putting down his textbook. Cam was serenading _Toby_, who was blushing terribly when she finally belted out his full name.

He watched as the girl gave her classmate the sunflower and sauntered away to sit by her lonesome at the table behind him. Craig hadn't noticed that he had followed her every move and was currently turned around in his chair, until Spinner poked his shoulder, smirking. It was getting to be a permanent expression on his face, and Craig was just about ready to wipe it off. Nothing was going on between him and Crazy Camilla. **_Nothing_**, he was convincing himself. He had just met her. He hardly knew anything about her. And yet... Craig turned around, pretending to stretch his back. Cam was sitting there, innocently munching on her chicken wrap, unbeknownst to all the chatter and gossip going on around and about her. _She really didn't know did she?_ He thought to himself, momentarily studying her sun-kissed face. That same **stupid**, dreamy smile was still on as she studied the back of her soda bottle, only at a lower, slightly sadder scale, different than the smile she had given him the day before.

Camilla looked up quickly, her grin broadening as he eyes met his for a brief moment. _Shit_, he thought, turning around as he felt his face flush, returning to his sandwich. She knew he had been looking, even for a few seconds. And, during those few seconds, Craig thought about why she was such a social outcast, why the majority of the school wouldn't want to be associated with her. She really wasn't _that_ bad, once you got past the preoccupied smiles and the random comments.

It was when Spinner started coughing obnoxiously when Craig finally snapped back to reality, dropping all those thoughts. He tossed some fries at his friends, thoughts of Cam still lingering in his mind. She was _weird_ and he didn't want anything to do with her. He **didn't** want anything to do with-

"Hello, Craig."

He flinched as he finished off his turkey sandwich, slowly looking up from the lunch tray, meeting her heavy-lidded eyes. "Hi, Camilla," he replied, using her full first name. His friends got up from their seats. Spinner had coughed loudly. Marco had patted Craig on the back.

"How are you?" she asked softly as the two boys walked away. He noticed that she was fiddling with the kelly green fringe from the tank top that peeked through the large opening of her sweater.

"I'm... getting by." He shrugged, actually giving her a lopsided grin. Screw school social status and crap for now. He wasn't mean enough to snub her at that moment._ And_ he wasn't supposed to care about that kind of stuff. Cheerleaders and their followers did that. He didn't. "What about you?"

"Same," she replied, gesturing to the chair next to him. "... Can I?"

"What? Oh, sure, go ahead."

Camilla smiled again, gracefully settling herself in the seat, prompting another buzz to go around the cafeteria. She was so much closer to him now. So close that he could smell her scent of vanilla mixed with cinnamon. "Do you always sing happy birthday to other people in your grade?" he finally blurted out after a brief silence.

She shook her head, and then nodded, confusing him a little. "I'll sing to whoever I want to serenade! Today was Toby's birthday and I felt like singing to him. If you don't want me to sing on your birthday, then I won't."

"Um, well... whatever you want. You're a pretty good singer."

"And this is coming from a musician himself!" She laughed her usual light and airy laugh. "Thank you." He noticed her hands that were now folded neatly on the table had paint splatters on them.

"You paint?"

"I dabble in it. I'm not very good. That's why I've been taking classes all this year at the Youth Center."

"Oh, that's...cool," Craig replied, wondering if he should meet her gaze again. It seemed every time he did so, he either lost his train of thought, or dropped it completely. _What was it about that girl?_ The bell fortunately rang and both of them stood up, collecting their things.

"Can I walk with you to your next class? I think it's near mine."

Err. "Well... alright, I guess," Craig said shrugging, wondering if he'd be able to rid of this girl before she got too attached to him. He kind of smiled at her again as they fell into an awkward silence. He was fully aware of all the stares from his peers, but Camilla was fully content prattling on about something she read about mummies in her father's National Geographic magazines while he nodded, trying to pay attention to whatever she was saying.

"Well, here's my stop. I'll see you around then!" she said brightly, skipping into the classroom a few doors away from his own.

He nodded slowly as she pranced away, once again leaving him mystified.


End file.
